Our design for a new environmental area at this small primary school in rural Cheshire comprises a new cultivation area, fruit trees, pond and landscaped playing field which children would walk through on their way to and from school. The design was conceived as a mini-child’s world with each of the main physical elements named after a world feature – eg. The 17m long wall became the ‘Great Wall of Clutton’, the row of trees became the ‘Champs Elysees’ and the meeting point of all intersections ‘Spaghetti Junction’.
One of the main design elements was the Great Wall of Clutton; made from reinforced concrete and formed against egg-crate basement tanking – this was designed to accommodate the different levels on the site. The children decorated this with the help of a local artist and we also carried out a tree-planting session that featured in the local press. The project was designed to allow pupils to engage with subjects such as geography, maths, languages and biology in a non-classroom environment. A real outdoor classroom!
